We Are Everywhere.

The December 2020 defacement of the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial with symbols of hate and intolerance were coupled with a threat – “we are everywhere.”  Identical stickers have been found at other locations throughout the Pacific Northwest.  We know that evil lurks.

It lurks in closed minds and hollow hearts that chase conspiracies.  It lurks in those who view difference as inferior.  It lurks in those who claim privilege as a birthright and fail to recognize how the rights of others are trampled.  It lurks in those who craft a national narrative that denies truth – a narrative of self-preservation rather than inclusion.

While in hiding from the evil that roamed the streets below, Anne Frank penned that “a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”

A single candle.

Countering that December threat, the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights proclaimed that “We Are Everywhere.”  Partnering with Healthwise and the Downtown Business Association, the tagline now appears on billboards, yard signs and banners throughout Idaho.

“We Are Everywhere” reminds us that people of goodwill, that people who believe in compassion, equality, justice, love, respect and kindness are, in fact, everywhere.

However, we know that there are those in the community who have not felt the love and kindness, that for some, equality and justice seem more aspirational than attainable.  We remember that, though words of hope echoed on the pages of her diary, Anne Frank died at the hands of evil.

Hatred exists – but so does love.

While love, compassion and justice are not everywhere, as I drive through town and see a yard sign, I know it is there – in that house, that neighborhood.  Each yard sign positioned as a single candle defying the darkness.

Etched in the stone of the Memorial, Albert Einstein acknowledged “The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

Yes, “We Are Everywhere” in homes, neighborhoods and businesses throughout Idaho and we’re proclaiming more than the words on a yard sign, we’re standing as bulwarks against prejudice and bigotry.  We’re standing against hate.